…Dream A Dream

It’s finally here, week two of the 2WC Sunday countdown to “Les Misérables.”  This week we’re taking a look at all of the lovely ladies of “Les Misérables.”

You can’t talk about the ladies of Les Mis without mentioning the lovely ladies.  Call them ladies of the night, working girls, fabulous whores or whatever you like.  They are a constant female presence in this story, serving as a reminder of what the lot of the down and out woman was at this point in history.  They are tragic, they are fierce, they are independent, and they are truly fabulous, as a device and as an ensemble.

Of course, not all the women of Les Mis are quite so easily defined by their circumstances.  In Fantine, we have a young woman who has seen some rough times, but still manages to rise above her circumstances, however briefly.  Forced to take desperate measures to provide for her daughter, Fantine sacrifices her own happiness and virtue so that her daughter might live.  And despite her miserable life, her sacrifice is rewarded in the end by the kindness of Jean Valjean who promises to care for her daughter, Cosette.

Cosette, a tragic child who can at least take comfort in the fact that her mother believed she was being well-cared for, is a lonely child being raised by the fiendishly humorous Thénardiers (who we’ll discuss next week) when Val Jean comes to fetch her. She’s child who has never known love, so it’s only appropriate that her story would be one of romance.  What starts as a tale of love at first sight turns into a story of true devotion. Of course while she’s falling in love, a shadow from her past, the Thénardiers’ daughter Eponine, is standing by in the shadows.

As touching as the sight of love at first sight is, the agony of Eponine’s unrequited love for Marius is equally heart-wrenching. In fact that phrase sums up Eponine quite beautifully.For every fortune that Cosette has encountered since the night Val Jean took her away Eponine has had none.  Yet in spite of this she is resilient, brave, and better than her circumstances.  She knows her lot in life and accepts it, but refuses to let it get the better of her.

That can truly be said of all of the lovely ladies of  ”Les Misérables.”  They represent love in the broadest sense. They are resourceful.    They are strong.  They are beyond brave.  While the rights of all are being fought for by the student revolutionaries, you do wonder how much the rights of these truly courageous women are being considered. Truth be told, more than anything, the women of “Les Misérables” are ahead of their time.

____________________________________
…just for fun:

Some Les Mis Christmas Cheer: